EtCR Control Group (IC)

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Grix



"We should keep moving. We'll take the body with us for a proper burial. It shouldn't slow us down significantly. " Grix says with sadness in his voice.

Spoiler

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In previous games I've usually buried gear with the body or mail it back to the person's relatives more as a metagaming away to avoid breaking player power-level by looting your fallen friends. :P

Something to consider.

[UrsusArctos]

"We can take the body with us. Perhaps Tes will have some method of resurrection available to him? And I too have an objection to you looting his body, Grumdi - and not sharing any of it with the rest of us! We can decide who gets what upon reaching our destination." Lucreticus leans down to pick up Elthias's body, petting Yan as he does, and walks forward through the woods.

[Grand Arbiter]

After accepting the petting, Yan follows close behind, keeping his eyes and ears on everybody and their surroundings.

[Zaydos]

Time: A little past noon. Day: -.
Location: Outside of Tes's Cottage (the Western Woods) Mood Music

Resuming their travels, the journey passes quickly. The four worgs seem to have been all the threats the travelers would face on their journey as they make their way to Tes's cottage without any other unexpected or unfortunate events befalling them. The cottage is off the old road a ways through a winding footpath sometimes less than five feet wide, a region which could have made a better place for the worgs to hide, buying them just a few more moments of surprise.

The 'cottage' itself is built into a tree covered hill, its doorway hidden through simple camouflage, though one can immediately tell something is there for as you approach the sound of bells rings through the air, the tell-tale chiming of an alarm spell. It's only a few moments before Tes's head pops out of a pair of dirt covered shutters, the gnome's eyes narrowing as he looks at you.

Over a hundred years old, the gnome has passed the prime of youth, but still hopes to live five hundred more even if that'd make him the oldest gnome in recorded history. You think. Tes claims to be everywhere from seventy to one hundred and twelve, while the inhabitants of Hamsil peg him as about one thirty give or take a decade. His left eye narrows at you, a crossbow slowly being tucked away.

"Stay there!" He shouts and closes the shutters, and you can hear the workings of some machinery behind the door of the hill before it opens, 20 ft from where the path leads straight across his cottage (it dead ends three and a half miles beyond). "What took you so long?" He asks snappishly, "I expected you here a week ago," His message reached you only five days ago, "The other one already made it here an hour ago. The world is in danger and what have you been doing? I suspect it involves bar wenches, doesn't it? Well come, come, the fate of the world is at stake, don't just dilly dally!"

The entire of his 'cottage' is a mess. Papers strewn about, books covering seats, a litter of badgers nesting in the fire place, a pair of ravens roosting within, and no designated bathrooms for his animal friends. Of course Tes, being Tes, he does not lead you in further than the entry 'parlor', a place with a 4-1/2 foot roof, chairs half a human's size, and burrowing mammals living in the fire place. In the room, too small for him, there is a black haired man, about two feet too tall to stand upright in the hill-house.

Even as you enter Tes's face shifts to a frown. "I see Death made his opening gambit already, I had hoped to play white..."

Mechanics: It's a Libro!

[UrsusArctos]

Lucreticus squats as he enters the house, much too tall for the room, unlike his compatriots. He drops Yan onto the ground in front of him, having carried the cat inside.

"Elthias was slain by a group of wargs as we traveled. They ambushed us and ripped him to shreds within seconds. We slew three and chased off the last, but it was too late for him. We brought his body in the hopes you would have some kind of resurrection, but we expect to have to bury him."

Lucreticus looks over to the black-haired man and stretches out a hand. "I am Lucreticus, son of Zeus. It is nice to meet you. And you would be the last member of our group? Tes only alluded to you in his letter."

[Zaydos]

Tes shakes his head, and sighs, "Not me personally," He states walking to the mantle of the fireplace and pulling two letters off of it. "Take his body to the Drunken Gargoyle, and deliver this letter to Alphis," He says naming the proprietor, "It includes instructions as to where and with whom to send the body to have him revived, a writ of credit for is in this, He taps the second letter, "letter." He grabs a third one from the mantle, "And this includes instructions for Elthias when he is revived." An observant onlooker would note that there are 5 other letters on the mantle. He looks towards Elthias's mangled body, "Don't think that being dead is going to get you out of helping, you hear me. Even the dead can be of use in this game." He trails off muttering in gnome, before saying again to the dead dwarf, "I will of course be deducting part of the cost from your pay for the foreseeable future." He glances about after his little discourse with the corpse, "And do keep your voices down, the kitchen door has been particularly attentive of late, and I suspect it's been informing on me to the pixies."

Spoiler: Gnomish

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"I had hoped to keep all my pawns together. Still if that's the way I'll have to play it, I can move pieces on two fronts at once Death, you'll see that I can!

[Grand Arbiter]

Hearing the party enter, the black-haired man stands, bending over to fit within the small parlor. Clad in blue robes, it is plain that he is approximately as tall as Lucreticus, albeit with a lighter frame.

He reaches out and shakes Lucretius's hand. Tes has been similarly vague in his correspondence to my order. I am Templar Iannul Khoradan. "Ian" will suffice if pronunciation is an issue. May I ask the names of your companions?


(Addressing Tes) If Death has made his move, then let us return the inflicted loss in kind.



Yan does his best to curl up by Tes's feet without tripping him, (as cats are prone to try to do).

[Jastu]

"Lose a dwarf, farewell my friend, I hope whatever this one has you doing is worthwhile to your family and clan."

"Aye, had something to do with ale too my friend, but we rushed post haste."

To Ian, "I am Grumdi, known as the Short-Shield, for my protection of a Gnomish lord years ago. I hope that our path remains true, and our losses do not mount much more."

"So I guess we're going back to the town then, to deliver the body of our companion with your letters? What else do you need us to undertake?"

[Zaydos]

The gnome looks at Grumdi and nods. "[B]Yes, yes, of course there was. There is a darkness that stirs. A shadow that walks where it should not be, a great eclipse of the soul![b]" His voice rises as he speaks, his eyes growing bright with a fervent light. "I see the children of the night in my dreams. The voices of the dead speaking to me. Even sweet Orelia plots against me now. Even Orelia... He shakes and shudders a bit, casting his glance down. "But you remain loyal, do you not. Hopefully even him," He glances at Elthias, "I must hope at least." He stoops down scooping a baby badger up in his arms, whispering something in gnomish, and then continues, "I see a valley cloaked in never ending night, where the children of night rule, and from that valley the call for a hero goes out, a call that..." He bites his lips, face pale, uncertainty showing for a moment, "must be answered. Yes. Must be answered."

Spoiler: Gnomish

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"My useful loyal pieces."

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Grix

"Funny I had dreams of mounds of gold which brought me here..." Grix says playfully. "Why didn't you just send us a letter discussing the problem rather than summoning us here to go back again. If time was really important... " Grix trailed off immediately catching his mistake of trying to use logic in a conversation with the half-mad gnome.


Images of a succession of adventurers going back and forth with letters between the cottage and town filled his mind. He wondered to himself if it was just a cunning gnomish plot to keep the worg population thinned. Talk of this valley of darkness did concern him though and he couldn't hide his interest.

Spoiler: Gnomish

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"No matter, let's move on - to hell with the kitchen door and his mix allegiances.."

[UrsusArctos]

"A valley of darkness in need of a hero? Now, that sounds right up my alley. Many of my half-brothers and sisters are legendary heroes, and I see no reason to break tradition! Where is this valley, and we shall set off as soon as we can." Lucreticus sits down on the floor of the cottage, still leaning over to avoid hitting his head upon the roof.

[Metahuman1]

Makarov nodded to Tess. I'm going to regret asking this, but....


"Can you elaborate a bit on what "children of death" entails exactly? That could mean a number of things." He mentions to the seer.

[Zaydos]

Tes looks to Lucreticus, "I see only vague shadows on the loom of fate, weavings half spun. I see a voyage across the desert, Fallam Desert, the sun moving from right to left, rising and setting in that land of harsh light as you ride. I see a place where three pigs meet and travelers gather, that is where a messenger from the valley will come. Once you have received that call, the messenger should be able to tell you more precisely."

His head turns towards Makarov then, "I'm afraid I know even less on that one. Sometimes I see a wolf, other times a bat. At times they are a woman taller than Lucreticus and with a mein almost as horrible, skin of putrid green. Sometimes instead it is a man, hair black as the night, eyes red as blood, features as fine as a sculpted god's. And the dead. I see them haunting my dreams. Sweet, fair Orelia, ever young but twisted with the corruption of the grave. Mawmaw Aelephipia weaving with skeletal hands." He shudders a bit, looking down and squeezing the badger cub in his hands making it give out a small cry before he relents. "An evil comes to the dead themselves, a twisting, corrupting force. I only hope that Elthias is still himself when he awakes. But this is only the first moves, and that darkness is still distant, but if I don't take Death's Bishop here it'll be that much closer, and the Eclipse of the Soul with it."

[Grand Arbiter]

Annul sat back down after shaking hands with Lucretius and listened.

If your sight is obscured by shadows, can we find a way to shed new light upon your visions? Something we can to to strengthen your sight... My order's seers could pool their energies and focus their energies together to strengthen their powers, is there anything or anyone with whom you could work to do the same?


If Death's bishop is near, then perhaps we should move to clear it from the board.

[Zaydos]

Tes shakes his head. "No way that I know of which does not require rare fungi which would be too time consuming to obtain, He says, "But you have struck to the heart of why I've gathered you here, it is time to remove a piece from the board, and that will be the duty of you five."

He clicks his tongue then and shakes his head lightly. "There is another piece to deal with on the way. A mere pawn at most, but pawns can be important. In northern Fallam I foresee Death claiming another piece, violently seizing it, and stirring it from the gentle peace of the grave. It is too late to prevent this death, had you made it here sooner perhaps something could have been done, but now, too late, too late," He says his voice turning accusatory for a moment. "Still the past is past and cannot be changed, and when the sands of the hourglass are already running... Still it would be best not to let Death have another piece on the board even if only a minor one. But it is freshly in His grasp, and there may still be time to free it from Him."

[UrsusArctos]

"If the matter is this urgent, we must leave immediately. There is, as you say, no time to waste. The pieces are in play, and they've already taken several turns."

[Grand Arbiter]

I concur. The longer we wait, the more time our foe will have to plan and prepare.

[Zaydos]

Tes however apparently does not as he shakes his head. "There's something that needs be done here first," He says, "Wait here for a moment." With that he heads back into the cottage, climbing a tiny set of stairs. His footsteps can be heard over your heads for a half a minute or so, before he descends again carrying a bag. "After all I don't pay you merely due to your mercenary tendencies, you may need some of these things in your journeys." He begins to pull things from the sack, one after another, weapons and goods, your down payment for services to be rendered. "Half up front as usual."

Mechanics: The 5000 GP of stuff you were supposed to earmark, you get that here.

[UrsusArctos]

Lucreticus hunches over, and looks at the armory dispensed by Tes. The son of Zeus grabs three smaller spears, similar to his own, a small crystal sparkling with lightning, a cloak, and several vials filled with chemicals. "These are two alchemical fires, two holy waters and one acid, correct?" Finally, the demigod pulls out his primary longspear and affixes the crystal to the head, as the entire spear lights up with crackling lightning. "Like my father's," he whispers to himself.

[Zaydos]

Tes nods. "Yes, that is correct, I believe at least some of them will be useful to you on your journey." He glances across the group, "I hope you are all satisfied with your payment?"

[Jastu]

Pulling out the small dishes, and the metal sliding them into his pack, placing the crystal into his armor and attaching the belt to his waist.

"Aye, things seem to be in order, though I sense we won't have the time at the moment to work this?"

[Zaydos]

"You must make sure to reach the place where three pigs and heroes gather before the message does," Tes answers, "The message will hopefully tell you more."

[UrsusArctos]

"Yes sir. Just tell us which direction to head in and we'll be off." Lucreticus straps his spear to his back and puts the alchemical items into his pack.

[Zaydos]

"North across Fallom Desert," Tes says, ready to see you off if you have no further questions.

The Fallom desert lays about 100 miles to the north, the desert itself is about 250 miles across. A cursed and blighted region it is hot even when the surrounding lands are mild, rain rarely falling, and cover sparse. To the west the Kraelg Mountains form a natural barrier causing north-south trade to move mostly by the Western North-South Road which crosses through it. The town of Aldom being the last town south of the desert along that route.

[Grand Arbiter]

As we are all prepared, let us press on to meet our foe.

Until we meet again, Tes. Iannul gives a bow as the group exits the house.

---

As they walk north, Iannul takes in the scenery.


Does anyone know how much farther until the next town?

Spoiler

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Please feel free to fire off some questions to Iannul. The group has probably noticed that he sleeps little, and that he carries himself like a warrior, but lacks any arms or armor that are visable.

(This post made assuming only a day or two of travel time so far after Tes's house.)


Also, a spot/listen, if needed in the future:
Spot:(1d20+11)[16]
Listen:(1d20+11)[28]